Leonard Mlodinow

Biography

Dr. Leonard Mlodinow is a theoretical physicist and author of numerous academic research papers in physics and seven popular science books, including five bestsellers. His most recent book is Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change. His book, Subliminal: How Our Unconscious Mind Rules Our Behavior, won the 2013 PEN/Wilson award as best literary science book. Read More >

His book The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, was a New York Times editor’s choice and a New York Times notable book of the year and won the Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical thinking and the Liber Press (Spain) Award for the Popularization of Science, in addition to being short-listed for the Royal Society book award. The Grand Design, co-authored with Stephen Hawking, was a #1 best seller, and was made into a three-part documentary on the Discovery Channel. He is also the co-author, with Deepak Chopra, of War of the Worldviews: Science and Spirituality, and three other books, which have appeared in 25 languages.

In addition, Dr. Mlodinow has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, Nature, Discover Magazine, Wired, The New York Reviewof Books, Psychology Today, and other mass-market publications. He has appeared in films such as Jeff Bridges’ documentary Living in the Future’s Past, and on numerous television programs including Morning Joe, and Through the Wormhole. He has also created several award-winning video games, including one in conjunction with Steven Spielberg, and one starring Robin Williams, and has written for network television, including the series MacGyver, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the comedy Night Court. He is a popular international speaker who has given invited lectures on four continents, at universities such as Caltech and Harvard, and corporations ranging from Google and Microsoft to Pepsi and Major League baseball. He received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and was on the faculty of the California Institute of Technology. Read Less ^

Speaker Videos

Speech Topics

Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change

Drawing on cutting-edge research, Mlodinow takes the audience on an illuminating journey through the mechanics of our minds as we navigate the rapidly changing landscapes around us. Out of the exploratory instincts that allowed our ancestors to prosper hundreds of thousands of years ago, humans developed a cognitive style that Mlodinow terms elastic thinking, a unique set of talents that include neophilia (an affinity for novelty), schizotypy (a tendency toward unusual perception), imagination and idea generation, and divergent and integrative thinking. These are the qualities that enabled innovators from Mary Shelley to Miles Davis, from the inventor of jumbo-sized popcorn to the creators of Pokémon Go, to effect paradigm shifts in our culture and society. In our age of unprecedented technological innovation and social change, it is more important than ever to encourage these abilities and traits. Read More >

How can we train our brains to be more comfortable when confronting change and more adept at innovation? How do our brains generate new ideas, and how can we nurture that process? Why can diversity and even discord be beneficial to our thought process? With his keen acumen and quick wit, Mlodinow gives audiences the essential tools to harness the power of elastic thinking in an endlessly dynamic world. Read Less ^

The Grand Design

When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? Leonard Mlodinow, the physicist/author behind The Drunkard’s Walk, explores his collaborative work with Stephen Hawking in their #1 bestseller, The Grand Design. Created for any lay audience, this speech presents the most recent scientific thinking about the mysteries of the cosmos, and describes the current theories of the fundamental forces of nature and the origin and evolution of the universe. Read More >

In a very interesting, detailed, thought provoking and often humorous way, Mlodinow discusses why some of life’s biggest questions can be answered by science and scientific theory, including: Why is there something rather than nothing? Is the apparent “grand design” of our universe evidence of a benevolent creator who set things in motion – or does science offer another explanation? The theories he expounds upon are sometimes old and sometimes groundbreakingly new, but all will either surprise you, educate you, or both. This is a presentation that is not to be missed. Read Less ^

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

This irreverent and illuminating presentation explores how random events shape the world and how human intuition fights that fact. Although Mlodinow explains that things are more random than people realize, his talk is not about giving up due to that, but rather, about how to avoid being misled by randomness. Read More >

Although our brains naturally want to see patterns and order, life doesn’t necessarily work like that. Mlodinow shares how an understanding of randomness reveals a tremendous amount about our daily lives, our investments and our business decisions. He analyzes examples from business and the financial markets, revealing how successes and failures are often attributed to clear and obvious causes, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.

As he discusses the basics of probability and statistics, Mlodinow provides wonderful illustrations from fields as wide-ranging as sports, medicine, psychology and the stock market. Clear, accessible, very friendly, engaging and often very witty, this speech can be enjoyed by absolutely everyone (including the math-phobic) with the aim of changing the way people view their lives, their business dealings and the world around them.

Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior

Everyday we make personal, financial and business decisions, confident that we have properly weighed all the important factors and acted accordingly — and that we know how we came to those decisions. But in recent years it has become increasingly clear that the way we experience the world — our perceptions, behavior, memory and social judgment — is largely driven by the mind's subliminal processes and not by the conscious ones, as we have long believed. Although our unconscious mind thus plays a critical role in our perceptions, feelings and thoughts, we are unaware of its influence. As a result, our view of ourselves, our motivations and society is like a puzzle with most of the pieces missing. Read More >

In this talk Mlodinow will explore how the past two decades of revolutionary neurological research shows that our view of ourselves is far less accurate than we may believe, creating a new, modern understanding of the commanding role the unconscious mind plays in our conscious thoughts. Presenting vivid interactive demonstrations and striking examples, he will discuss some of the many ways the unconscious mind influences how we misperceive our relationships with family, friends, and business associates; and how we misremember important events — along the way, changing our view of ourselves and the world around us. Read Less ^

By overcoming cognitive illusions and mental barriers, Mlodinow believes anyone can obtain optimal risk assessment and decision-making. Focusing on psychological barriers and barriers arising from misguided intuition about probabilities and chance, he begins his talk with interactive exercises that will illustrate how the brain constructs reality from the data it takes in, rather than simply recording it. Read More >

Mlodinow addresses a range of barriers that affect us all, such as how the presentation of facts, or added detail, can influence the perception of likelihood or truth; how people have great trouble accurately judging the risk or probability of certain events; how the memory works, why people can have clear memories of things that didn’t happen, or didn’t happen as they recall; and how and why people have trouble objectively assessing data or situations when they would prefer a certain conclusion. Providing expert tips on taking control and achieving desired outcomes, Mlodinow shares how understanding our behaviors in relation to our brains can result in more productive negotiations and decisions. Read Less ^

Testimonials

"Leonard's skill in connecting with our audience made for a powerful presentation. He made complex and innovative ideas accessible, and even entertaining, giving the audience innovative ways to look at and assess important information. His presentation generated very positive feedback and we would welcome him again as a speaker."

- Portfolio Manager, PWL Capital Inc.

"I had found Len's books to be so compelling that I asked him to speak to our legal team on the topics of probabilities and unconscious biases. I was blown away by the talk he gave us. He was engaging, approachable and able to take complex concepts and make them understandable and relevant to our work. Len is a delightful man who will challenge the way that you think."

- Senior Assistant General Counsel, The Altria Group, Inc.

"When Leonard spoke to the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Los Angeles, he showed his rare ability to treat material that is deep and numerate in a captivating way. As with his books, the talks flow with a clear story line. His speaking style is warm and engaging. This demanding audience was satisfied and entertained!"

- Chair of Applied Behavioral Finance Group, CFALA

"A warm and engaging speaker, Len Mlodinow presents scientific insights simply and clearly, and in a way that entertains as it informs. At the CQA conference, he artfully demonstrated that cognitive bias is inescapable, even for us quantitative investment pros well-schooled in these very ideas in behavioral finance. It's all too rare to find accomplished scientists with his storytelling skills, let alone Hollywood writers with his scientific chops."

- Chief Investment Officer, QS Investors

"Len was very easy to work with and feedback from my colleagues and clients was positive. He handled a challenging venue with enthusiasm and class."